[0:00] [Music] you call the meeting to order all rise

[0:03] for the pledge of allegiance please i pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[0:08] united states of america and to the republic for which it stands

[0:14] one nation under god indivisible with liberty

[0:18] and justice for all

[0:22] [Music]

[0:29] first item on the agenda is roll call please mr keena

[0:33] president mr wyatt president chairman holder president

[0:37] all three being present none are absent a quorum exists so the meeting can

[0:41] begin uh there are two approval of two sets of minutes so

[0:46] i'll entertain a motion on the first seven minutes for the meeting of

[0:51] august 21st 2020. all right made that motion second we

[0:57] have a motion and second for approval of the minutes of the meeting on

[1:01] august 21st 2020. is there any further discussion

[1:07] here none call for the vote all in favor any opposed uh minutes are approved

[1:14] the next item is the approval of the minutes on september 1st

[1:18] 2020. uh do we have a motion second we have a motion and a second for

[1:24] approval of the minutes on september 1st 2020 any further discussion

[1:32] caring none call for the vote all in favor

[1:35] any opposed minutes for the meeting of september

[1:39] 2020 are approved next item on the agenda is the highway

[1:45] department claims mike good morning i just said with you

[1:49] okay all right [Music]

[1:57] we plan on showing uh mowing tuesday

[2:05] we do have a couple more days of world war i like to help

[2:09] districts with but we'll work it in as it comes up

[2:13] yeah if we could try uh think mediocre i got another

[2:17] complaint on that one on the grass this week so if we could maybe put that

[2:23] in the topic maybe hopefully appreciate it

[2:29] glad to see how many hundred plus we've had yeah

[2:42] [Music]

[2:49] highway department claims second we have a motion a second to approve the highway

[2:53] department claims any further discussion carrying none

[2:58] call for the vote all in favor any opposed highway department claims

[3:02] are allowed mr riegling the deck work on the bridge

[3:06] on uh mill creek is at the beginning it will start the tuesday that's actually

[3:11] the replacement yeah the bridge will replace it okay now

[3:14] i wasn't sure exactly how much my banner is going to start

[3:30] and you said there be two months

[3:35] okay thank you next item on the agenda is the general assistance general

[3:40] assistance for the period was three hundred dollars there were no recorded

[3:43] expenses do we have a motion to approve

[3:48] we have a motion in a second to approve the general assistance 300

[3:51] for the period and further discussion

[3:56] carrying none call for the vote all in favor any opposed

[4:00] general assistant is allowed thank you very much mr evelyn thank you

[4:08] next item on the agenda the care of center claims michelle

[4:37] we tested everybody yesterday um

[4:49] and anything else you'd like to say as far as

[4:53] current rules of visitors and all that we still have no visitors

[4:58] we're still no outside visitors um we have gone back to uh no

[5:05] but we're working on that see if we can get that

[5:20] [Music] foreign

[5:30] thank you mr chairman i would move to approve the care center claims that

[5:35] president second we have a motion a second to

[5:38] approve the care center flames as presented

[5:40] for the discussion

[5:43] hearing none call for the vote all in favor all right

[5:46] any opposed care center claims are allowed thank you very much

[6:07] next item on the agenda of the health department

[6:11] good morning barn angela your report please

[6:18] if

[6:23] [Laughter]

[6:30] um well we're still battling calico 19 we went back into the orange or actually

[6:34] never came out of that health status region 4 took a step back as everyone

[6:40] knows we had some further mitigation that took effect on wednesday

[6:46] in spite of feedback and input from the local health department administrators

[6:50] in this region the governor still chose to close

[6:53] indoor bar and dining that's going to be in effect for the

[6:58] next two weeks hoping that our numbers will

[7:02] maybe get a little better as far as statistics and numbers

[7:05] um yesterday we received 20 new cases only uh four of those were menard

[7:14] inmates two of those are two households are now

[7:19] positive which made up nine of those cases um

[7:23] seven are children under the age of 16. i know that the cbc put out a report

[7:29] that kids don't spread the disease as much as adults

[7:33] we have proof that children will become infected and they will spread the virus

[7:37] so we are very very cautious about the

[7:41] schools we are in contact with schools every

[7:45] single day they're calling us about any scenario or

[7:48] situation that they have and we are trying to give them as much

[7:53] guidance and advice as we possibly can to help to

[7:56] prevent the spread of that virus as far as the new mitigations

[8:05] i'm going to follow my same process if if we get a complaint or we feel like

[8:11] that somebody's making a lot of compliance i'm going to make a phone

[8:13] call to that person i'm going to follow up with a written

[8:16] letter just to validate that we have that conversation

[8:19] so that we can try to work together and rectify any situation or concerns

[8:23] that the business owner has okay are there any questions within the

[8:30] courtroom for uh health departments

[8:36] do you count these see it makes it renoir

[8:42] actually currently we have about 60 plus active cases inmates at menard

[8:49] they're making up about half of our active cases right now and i do want to

[8:54] let some the press and everyone know that the

[8:58] warden wills and the leadership at menard has worked very diligently

[9:04] to get this mitigated they put in several different strategies they have

[9:08] separated individuals into their own house

[9:12] they segregated anybody that has been identified as a positive case or close

[9:17] contact or is exhibiting any symptoms and starting to reflect down their

[9:21] numbers for a while we were getting anywhere

[9:24] from 10 to 12 new inmates now it's becoming a couple a day so

[9:29] we're hoping to get that mitigated pretty quickly

[9:32] so the transfers are still in effect transfers are still in effect the

[9:36] governor actually approves transports to come

[9:39] into both chester middle health and to the prison

[9:46] i noticed that yesterday's report you started breaking it down

[9:50] that's why yeah yeah i think it's important that everyone

[9:53] understand how this virus impacts different age groups um so i'm

[9:59] breaking down our statistics a little further

[10:01] and i think it's very important since we now have the majority of our schools in

[10:05] randolph are in person i want the community to understand

[10:09] how it does impact that age group so that if we are making some decisions

[10:15] or working with the schools to make decisions on potentially closing

[10:18] classrooms or having to close a school for a period

[10:21] of time i want the parents and the community to

[10:26] understand the children can spread that virus and

[10:30] with all of our experiences in the past with this virus

[10:34] it doesn't take long whenever you have a large group of people together

[10:38] it will spread like wildfire so we are doing everything we can to

[10:44] protect the schools and to ensure that the kids can be

[10:47] in person learning as much as possible we do understand

[10:50] that that is the best environment for learning

[10:54] but we also have to consider their safety as well

[11:13] i know you're not a fan of it i'm not a fan of it at all

[11:16] but um it came straight from the governor's office and um

[11:20] in spite of everything that we've said you know i feel like that i have spoken

[11:23] to every single person that i can and i was basically told that i don't

[11:28] have the authority and it's outside of my scope

[11:31] so i want to let you know that i talked to my director too and she

[11:35] supposedly but again we're holding up with the judges

[11:40] right and that was what the illinois sheriff's association

[11:43] finally stood this isn't that what started that that

[11:48] legally they have to accept inmates from the county jail

[11:52] yeah if you're looking at the top tier sheriff's department mainly cook county

[11:56] wanting to get people out but we were to the point where we were

[12:01] over capacity here yeah it wasn't just cook county

[12:04] randolph county we had a real problem we didn't get rid of those enemies we were

[12:08] outright

[12:12] [Music] mental health and menard um the

[12:18] leadership recognizes that if they have anybody

[12:22] that's new and incoming that they will segregate them for the two-week period

[12:26] to ensure that they're not affected and keep them away from general

[12:29] populations so that they are not a threat

[12:32] so they are doing that they do recognize that that is an important

[12:40] okay i've asked jeremy walker our state attorney

[12:44] to come this morning that if people have questions for him or if

[12:50] he'd like to make a statement about what's going on the governor's new rules

[12:53] if it changes anything with how we're approaching um

[12:59] any of this yeah mr white uh not really i mean

[13:05] to me and angie and i think these conversations

[13:09] over the last few weeks whenever we could see what was coming

[13:12] you know our enforcement plan is not changing

[13:16] it's no different than it was in may whenever the rope started to unravel

[13:21] it is no different than it was in july it is no different than it was in august

[13:28] two days ago we there is no criminal enforcement

[13:34] of the latest mitigation efforts in that if a bar chooses to stay open

[13:41] they are not going to face criminal penalties i know that may disappoint

[13:45] people because it literally does seem like people want to be

[13:48] arrested or once they fight or wants us to do

[13:52] something but we're not nobody is going to be

[13:56] arrested for violating the latest mitigation

[14:00] efforts that just went into effect to close indoor dining that closed

[14:04] indoor bar service it just isn't going to happen and it

[14:08] can't happen there is no criminal penalty for

[14:12] violating this lattice the latest mitigation

[14:16] the only criminal penalty that exists at this point as it relates to

[14:21] any of this coveted issue is the face mask

[14:25] and that is not against an individual there is a criminal penalty that if a

[14:30] business operates and is not making their

[14:33] customers wear a mask there's a three-step process

[14:37] that you have to go through they first get a verbal warning from the

[14:41] health department they then get a written warning and if

[14:45] there's a third violation then they could be sent to my office

[14:49] where there could be a criminal proceeding against the business

[14:53] not an individual the business and they could be fined up to 2 500

[15:00] that's been in effect for a lot of months now

[15:03] and we have never i have never received any complaints in my office so i think

[15:09] we're doing a good job there but there is no criminal penalty

[15:14] for businesses that choose to violate this

[15:18] the enforcement mechanism is going to be complaints for the illinois liquor

[15:22] commission and or the illinois gaming board

[15:25] and that a business that chooses to continue to operate

[15:30] and if there is a evidence to show that they are in violation of these

[15:35] mitigation efforts that can be forwarded on to the gaming

[15:39] commission and the board and then they will take whatever action that they want

[15:42] to that is a state issue that is not a

[15:45] county issue you know we be in the county are not

[15:49] going to be around looking for people that are open uh

[15:53] chief deputy peters is here from the sheriff's office

[15:56] i can assure you that i can speak for him that our deputies do not have time

[16:00] to go around and look for violations look for

[16:03] complaints now if a neighbor called sees that a bar

[16:08] is open and at one o'clock in the morning when they should be closed

[16:13] anyway and that person calls the police and

[16:15] says hey there's a business that's in operation

[16:18] if there's a deputy available would that person drive by there

[16:22] and see if they are open i know that that and then that report could get

[16:25] forwarded onto the gaming commission if people

[16:28] ask for it but we are not going to kick in the door

[16:32] we are not going to call anybody out on the carpet and arrest them

[16:36] it just isn't going to happen if people feel that their constitutional rights

[16:41] are being violated by these latest mitigation efforts

[16:46] open up and see what happens you can it's your call nobody is telling you

[16:52] that you can't do that and if you want to run the risk of

[16:56] losing your license do it i hold a license by the illinois

[17:01] attorney registration and disciplinary if they were telling me you can't do

[17:05] something i personally would choose not to do that because i value my law

[17:10] license very much and i'm not going to do anything to lose

[17:13] but if you're a small business and feel that you're up against the wall and

[17:16] you've got no choice but to open up your doors

[17:19] again we're not going to kick in the door we're not going to arrest you if

[17:22] you want to run the risk of losing your license

[17:25] you do so at your own peril but the county of randolph is not telling you

[17:29] that you can do that the health department is not telling you

[17:32] that you can do that the only other enforcement mechanism

[17:36] that exists is that there is a law that's been on

[17:39] the books since 19 oh i wrote it down

[17:49] i think it was the early 2000s which is the culture the health

[17:54] department does have the ability to close down a business

[17:59] that is operating in an unsafe manner that's causing a risk to the general

[18:03] public that has nothing to do with code that

[18:06] was not put on the books because of copa it existed years before we even knew

[18:10] what program was so if there is a business that is doing

[18:14] something that is a problem there is the ability

[18:19] the health department could say look you're going to

[18:21] close down then that is obviously a very big power the health department has to

[18:27] get consent from that business and say yes

[18:29] we did mess up and we agreed we should stay close or we have to go to court we

[18:33] have to file a petition within 48 hours to have a court to determine that the

[18:38] health department's actions were reasonable

[18:41] given the information that we have you know so now and then that is

[18:47] then violated there's a possibility of a criminal uh charge as well too but again

[18:52] we have not had to take that steps we don't

[19:00] as far as the enforcement goes if that answers everybody's questions

[19:07] okay any questions mary dan is there any questions from anyone who

[19:13] is listing in on the phone at this time

[19:21] this is deb lewis can you hear me yes good morning

[19:29] i appreciate everything jeremy has said and also the health department the rest

[19:33] of you um i don't i'm not a small business

[19:37] owner i do live in the country and i support

[19:40] all the services around me and we need those services

[19:43] i think that we have a lot of karen's that are calling people in

[19:47] for some reason i don't understand if they're

[19:50] afraid to be out in public then they need to stay home

[19:54] but people need to quit drinking the kool-aid and realize that there are

[19:58] hundreds of people in our walmarts and big department

[20:01] stores that are being allowed to stay open

[20:04] when there may be 10 people in our small businesses

[20:09] and we need to know what course of action we have to affect this

[20:13] we've been calling senators and representatives in prisoner's office

[20:17] and everybody says their hands are tied what can we do to support our businesses

[20:26] thank you

[20:29] thank you thank you for your comment anything on it jeremy well

[20:36] i mean as far as people's recourse the old saying goes elections have

[20:41] consequences you know if you don't like what is going on right

[20:45] now uh jay pritzker if you're jp brisker if

[20:48] he runs for re-election is going to be up for re-election in two years

[20:51] i certainly can tell from people's sentiment where that may go at least in

[20:55] southern illinois you know your state legislatures

[20:59] everybody is up this time around uh i'm up for re-election though luckily i'm

[21:03] unopposed but you if you don't like what's going

[21:08] on you need to make sure that you exercise

[21:11] your constitutional right to vote in the upcoming election

[21:15] elections have consequences and uh we're dealing with uh those

[21:20] consequences right now and i just would ask the people please

[21:24] get out and exercise your rights here in november and as far as small

[21:28] businesses goes they're still open for outside it's a beautiful evening

[21:32] my wife and i talked about it tonight we're gonna go find a place to go eat

[21:37] so any other comments on the people listing in

[21:42] yes play hello what's your name sir hello

[21:51] my name is james

[21:55] good morning your comments yes sir and fellas i'm a truck driver i drive

[22:00] over many different states i see many different places and like deb

[22:05] lewis says you all are saying we don't really have

[22:09] restrictions go ahead and eat outside can you say anybody didn't realize it's

[22:12] going to get mighty cold eating outside it is a crock of crap and if people

[22:17] don't feel safe don't go out in public lift these

[22:20] restrictions all weekend i realize your hands are somewhat tied

[22:23] but somehow we got to be able to push the issue to get our places back

[22:26] open so we can run a normal lifestyle and not lose our tax money because

[22:31] people are going to other states to buy goods and i'm one of them if i have to

[22:35] go to another state i do go to it so i am not supporting

[22:39] pritzker's so i'm another one i would love to find

[22:42] another way to help push the envelope to get rid of some of

[22:46] the stuff that's going on if you have any ideas i understand election

[22:50] i'm all for it elect him out if we can push the issue before that let me know

[22:54] how i can help i think i've seen some petitions or at

[23:00] least one petition from redbud being circulated

[23:05] excuse me that's uh that's one way that our voices can be heard we

[23:10] circulated or we didn't the business of owners

[23:16] circulated a petition for reopening and uh

[23:20] maybe uh some petitions from the public would be an order

[23:25] to help get the governor's office to to listen to us this time also

[23:29] and just one other comment i'd like to make is people as

[23:33] you know we have three commissioners in randolph county and people act like if

[23:36] it has to do with randolph county we have the authority

[23:39] to make whatever decision and do whatever we want that's just not the

[23:42] case our authority only goes so far we cannot

[23:46] make decisions that override what the governor says you know this is

[23:52] a battle with the governor's office and we've all uh all

[23:57] advocated for our local businesses for our local citizens

[24:01] including angela the health department who has her hands down by the illinois

[24:05] department of public health she she was not an advocate for closing

[24:09] the restaurant she uh she fought with them and

[24:14] and i've spoken with representative rice with uh terry bryant

[24:21] and representative terry bryant and representative paul

[24:25] or senator paul chen and and they're all telling us that they're

[24:30] advocating for us but all all the talk is just falling on

[24:34] deaf ears so um as jeremy said i think it's very

[24:39] good idea that we all remember this in two years when

[24:42] mr pritzker is up for election decide you know if that's the kind of authority

[24:50] figure we want as our leader of the state

[24:54] so there any questions on any of that

[24:59] hopefully don't have to wait two years

[25:06] any further comments from individuals listening on the phone please

[25:17] okay hearing none i suppose we will close this discussion at this point in

[25:20] time and move on down the agenda do we need a motion

[25:27] okay mr chairman i would love to approve the health department claims

[25:31] i would say that we have a motion this second

[25:35] excuse me promotion the segment of approved health department claims any

[25:38] further discussion perry nunn call for the vote all in

[25:43] favor any opposed health department claims are approved

[25:48] next item on the agenda is approval of the courthouse claims has everyone had a

[25:52] chance to review them and do we have a motion

[25:56] and i would make a motion if we agree with the courthouse i would second that

[25:59] motion we have a motion a second to prove the

[26:01] courthouse claims is there any further discussion

[26:05] carrying none call for the vote all in favor any opposed

[26:09] courthouse claims are allowed next item on the agenda we have an appointment

[26:15] for the chester memorial hospital board

[26:20] and i recommend for appointment one moment please

[26:27] thank you uh recommend for appointment is um christina

[26:34] okay christine of bubbles for a term that expires july

[26:39] 1st 2022. mr chairman i would make that motion to

[26:44] approve christina with the thought and appreciation of the

[26:48] board to mary alice welke for her time on the

[26:52] board certainly she struggled with the death

[26:54] of her husband don and working with the family as changes

[26:58] go not only with the family but in the company

[27:01] so let me said today in this meeting that we appreciate all that mary has

[27:06] done for the memorial hospital board and with that i would make a motion to

[27:10] approve christine i was thinking we have a motion a second

[27:14] recruit christina for the chester memorial hospital board

[27:18] for a in in july 1st 2022

[27:23] uh any further discussion carrying none roll call vote please

[27:29] commissioner keen empty mr white hey chairman holder hey with

[27:34] three a's and no nays the appointment is hereby approved next

[27:38] either on the agenda is public comment does anyone else wish to make any

[27:42] comments

[27:47] anyone on the phone

[27:52] carrying no additional i would like to make a count please okay i just want to

[27:56] thank angela for all her hard work i've been dating her the busiest woman in

[28:00] randolph county and i want to commend her and her

[28:04] department because it is very difficult from their

[28:07] position to try to deal with not only all the co-vacations that they

[28:11] have to monitor but also deal with the businesses and all that

[28:15] so i want to thank you very much and uh mike holster is here this morning i

[28:20] want to thank him um he's been going to bat for us getting

[28:24] us ppe

[28:28] um nancy have been awesome too so uh we

[28:33] thank ema for all their hard work and all this and

[28:36] uh jeremy walker thank you so much for your

[28:39] comments and jared peters from the sheriff's department thank you for being

[28:42] here and we appreciate everybody's support

[28:46] and clarity on the rumor mill is wound up tight

[28:50] right now so we want to make sure and we appreciate

[28:53] you guys in the paper i'm getting all this down because all

[28:57] these things are so important at the time

[28:59] that we get a good communication that people understand

[29:02] where we are with all this so thank you very much

[29:07] thank you thank you for your comments anything else

[29:14] hearing none this concludes public comment first item in our new business

[29:18] a proclamation for constitutional week

[29:23] oh please mark okay well welcome i know we have members of the

[29:28] liberty bell of the west chapter with us this morning good morning

[29:32] so uh we have a proclamation in front of us for constitution

[29:36] week uh whereas uh liberty belt west chapter illinois state

[29:41] the national society daughters of the american revolution is requesting the

[29:45] randall county board commissioner to issue this proclamation for

[29:50] constitution week whereas september 17 2019

[29:56] this should be 2020. yes okay march the 230

[30:06] third anniversary of the drafting of the constitution of the united states of

[30:11] america by the constitutional convention and

[30:14] whereas it is fitting and proper to accord

[30:17] official recognition to this magnificent document

[30:21] and its memorable anniversary and to the patriotic celebrations which will

[30:26] commence commemorate the occasion and whereas

[30:30] public law 915 guarantees the issuing of a

[30:34] proclamation each year by the president of the united states

[30:37] designated september 17th through 23rd as

[30:41] constitution week now therefore by virtue of the authority of vested in

[30:45] randolph county board of commissioners of the state of illinois to hear by

[30:50] proclaiming the week of september 17-23 as constitution week and asked our

[30:56] citizens to reaffirm the ideals that the framers of the constitution had

[31:01] in 1787 by vigilantly protecting the freedoms

[31:06] guaranteed to us through this guardian of our liberties

[31:10] remembering that lost rights may never be regained

[31:14] and asked our citizens to ring their church bells and or

[31:18] school bills at 2 p.m central daylight time

[31:22] september 17 2020 as part of a nationwide commemoration of

[31:28] the signing of the u.s constitution in 1787.

[31:32] in witness thereof i here to unto set my hand and cause the seal of account

[31:37] of randolph state of illinois to be affixed this fourth day of september of

[31:41] the year of our lord 2020. mr chairman i would live to

[31:46] approve the proclamation for constitutional week

[31:50] all right okay we have a motion and a second to

[31:53] approve the reclamation for constitutional week

[31:56] any further discussion comments or questions

[32:02] no we appreciate it we strongly support our constitution

[32:06] and uh following up on jeremy's comments and so forth

[32:11] of what we should be following so we appreciate for everyone respecting each

[32:15] other's rights

[32:18] thank you thank you very much and emily do you have a

[32:21] text in a text format that you can send to joe so we can make that correction

[32:26] and get all the signatures

[32:33] [Music]

[32:40] okay

[33:03] [Music]

[33:08] i do believe that regardless of the year it is always set on the 17th

[33:14] it is it's always on the 17th yes okay now that's that's the only thing

[33:20] in the the third actually some anyhow we've recently received from

[33:27] our state uh people that it was the

[33:32] 233rd and i think there may be a there's been a problem there in the past

[33:38] and but we have it down corrected

[33:43] okay thank you very much okay we're ready for the boat roll call vote please

[33:49] okay uh michigan state commissioner hey chairman holder hey

[33:56] for free and no names of proclamation is hereby adopted

[33:59] next item on the agenda is a raffle license for that's unlimited

[34:03] the rule the continuing process they apparently are you know they're

[34:08] doing a separate raffle for each item that they are uh i have no issue with

[34:15] supporting this we've supported them in the past they're a good organization

[34:19] i would do to approve these applications

[34:24] i would second that as as a grouping yeah

[34:35] we have a motion a second to approve the raffle license for the eleanor dustin

[34:39] lemon in any further discussion

[34:42] hearing none call for the vote all in favor any opposed

[34:54] [Music]

[35:00] okay

[35:05] i guess we can copy them

[35:31] if there's anybody left on the phone we got a clean copy of the constitution

[35:35] week proclamation that we're signing and then joe

[35:40] livery is gonna get them copying for us we can always scan them and send them

[35:45] out if anybody wants one

[35:51] okay next item on the agendas utility contract extension costello

[35:56] constellat energy new energy uh uh mr white commissioner would you

[36:04] like to mention a few things about this yes i

[36:09] a couple years ago when i was chairman i kind of got tired of hearing from

[36:17] utility people constantly saying well on this contract on that contract

[36:21] i can get you a better rate and so i went to an energy seminar over at ren

[36:28] lake college and met up with a company called ate

[36:33] affordable gas and electric who said well we can take all your contracts i

[36:37] believe there's 11 of them for the county

[36:40] hammer contract we can combine them all and visit them all at one right

[36:46] to get the right way down getting so much power at one time

[36:49] and we can lock it in for up to three years so right now we are currently

[36:53] under a three-year contract with uh

[36:57] aep energy that has saved the county a lot of money

[37:04] now recently i contacted our threat from

[37:10] age bruce wallace and he has said that we could block in for another

[37:17] up to three years from our contract that ends

[37:23] september of 2021 with the current political climate

[37:28] and the hurricane coming in maybe destroying some of the

[37:32] energy infrastructure in the united states which would drive the prices up

[37:37] i felt it was good to look at the current rate see what we could lock in

[37:42] and it would be my personal preference looking at rates from 12 18 24 and 36

[37:50] months we could save a little bit more money for the 18

[37:53] months which would and that's from our current rate which are already a highly

[37:58] discounted rate um over 18 months we could say one

[38:03] hundred dollars that then over 24 months which includes

[38:06] that following summer uh it's only about two hundred forty

[38:10] dollars but forty eight hundred ninety seven dollars

[38:13] and fresh i'll give you this key so you can see it

[38:16] my personal recommendation would be to go with a 24 month

[38:23] contract so that we could stabilize our rates for an extra two years

[38:28] past september of contract that we're currently in

[38:34] so does anybody have any questions on that

[38:41] i think it makes good sense we're being stewards of the county's money

[38:45] we're extending the savings that we're getting plus

[38:48] adding to the savings for a couple more years i would make a motion to approve

[38:53] all right second and that's the 24-month contract yeah they're reached for 24

[38:57] months i would say that okay we have a motion a

[39:01] second the prayer of the 24 month extension contract for utility rates

[39:11] is there any further discussion just the clarification so we stay with the

[39:15] current rate we've got until the what is september of 29th 2021

[39:20] and then these new rates kick into effect for another 24 months

[39:24] yes so in effect we're going another will be a full three years

[39:29] right and they did fit us out to 36 months but

[39:32] um the savings weren't that advantageous so

[39:37] i think which they still are a little bit better than what we're getting now

[39:42] but we're gonna i think the best item for the county

[39:48] and everything would be 24 months overall

[39:53] okay we have a motion and a second on the table for the utility contract for

[39:56] 24 months it's been a further discussion

[40:01] hearing none call for the vote all in favor all right

[40:04] he opposed the contract is hereby adopted

[40:08] and just for a little clarification there we are currently with aep

[40:12] energy constantly age bid us with four um poor energy companies and

[40:20] constellation have the best rates so the new contract will be able to

[40:23] constellation

[40:28] okay next item on the agenda is a recession

[40:31] of resolution 20-16 you have a little information on

[40:44] [Music]

[40:51] yes and after this was done we discovered that that parcel

[40:57] was part of another person so that's why it needed to be

[41:04] so they'll bring it back to us if there's anything i guess they will reach

[41:08] back if there is a need yes okay

[41:12] mr chairman i would move to approve the resetting of resolution 20-16

[41:24] 16. is there any further discussion hearing done call for the vote at all in

[41:30] favor any opposed the resolution 20x-16

[41:36] is hereby rescinded next item on the agenda is

[41:40] is a discussion and a letter concerning uh support of the pierre menard statue

[41:47] being removed from the capitol in springfield and uh

[41:54] brought to randolph county do we have mark you want to present it or ron would

[41:58] you want to present it or discuss with any well

[42:03] this is ronnie and i've had a lot of people

[42:06] uh calling for uh bringing the airman art statue back to randolph

[42:12] county this is where pierre menard's home

[42:15] was and still is in our home not by forecast cassia

[42:22] or fort gage depending on what title all of that

[42:42] supporting this i've gotten several letters

[42:45] i saw i did see an article in the county journal this morning

[42:48] that somebody asked would it not be brought back during accounting so i

[42:55] guess we're open to discussion

[43:00] emily would you like to speak to this that letter that i saw in a county

[43:04] journal needs a little factory a lot of

[43:09] information that it was completely accurate

[43:15] well certainly i think you've gotten communications from the menard family

[43:21] now that is highly in support of having the statute come down to

[43:26] randolph county the home county preparing art where he

[43:29] is buried where his house lies and

[43:34] his plantation let's say existed and uh he spent his whole life

[43:40] in this area serving and helping people certainly

[43:47] as we look at the good work of hearing art certainly being

[43:54] a part of the indiana territory being the president of the illinois

[43:58] territory where mississippi river was the frontier

[44:02] edge of the united states where his good work even extending into

[44:09] his family we know that there was a man that was born on

[44:14] kazakhstan island who was a free man of color by the name

[44:18] of john willis menard who ended up being the first

[44:22] african-american elected to the us house of representatives

[44:26] well-read wonderful graduate of iberia college

[44:30] went to louisiana and florida served in the state legislature in florida

[44:36] author of poetry just a well-read member of the menard family and

[44:43] so there are so many positives that it's hard for us to lift this

[44:50] statue go to another area of the state who has requested it and with the

[44:56] with menard families requesting many of our citizens have

[45:02] reached out to us and say bring it back to randolph county so

[45:06] all right

[45:11] so with that so we've crafted a letter and where the letter is right here

[45:15] oh okay read it into the record i can thank you this is a letter to

[45:21] andrea eggert architect of the illinois state capitol dear miss

[45:28] hackert on behalf of the citizens of randolph

[45:30] county we would like to request the pyramid arts statute we allowed to

[45:33] be placed in our french colonial district

[45:36] pierre menard is buried in randolph county and his beautiful home

[45:39] overlooks the site of the first state capital of illinois on kaskaskia island

[45:44] bernard was a member of the indiana territorial legislature from 1803 to

[45:48] 1809 and president of the illinois

[45:51] territorial council from 1812 to 1818. the illinois territory was

[45:57] a frontier region of the united states formerly

[46:00] part of the illinois country a portion of new france administered originally

[46:04] from quebec and later transferred to

[46:07] louisiana upon the admission of illinois as a

[46:10] state in 1818 the population of the new state was divided between

[46:14] french-speaking and english-speaking citizens

[46:18] to balance the ticket menard became the state's first lieutenant governor

[46:22] serving from 1818 to 1822 with the first governor shadrach bond

[46:28] the menard family had earned a status as fine

[46:31] public servants although pierre menard was a slave owner during his years in

[46:35] randolph county he earned a reputation for treating his

[46:38] extended family well and giving of himself to the kaskaskia community

[46:42] as an example one of his family members john rose menard was born a free person

[46:46] of color in cass casket in 1838 he clerked in the department of

[46:51] the interior during abraham lincoln's administration

[46:54] and became the first african-american to be elected to the u.s

[46:58] united states house of representatives he later served in florida's state

[47:02] legislature and as a justice of the peace randolph

[47:05] county is willing and able to transport the statute

[47:08] as and has the resources to properly mount

[47:11] and maintain the statute we understand the statute will need to undergo

[47:15] regular maintenance and must be placed in a secure environment

[47:19] we believe that it would be most fitting for the statute of care of an arch be on

[47:22] display in the area where he served as illinois's first

[47:26] lieutenant governor and his family lived respectfully the

[47:29] commissioners

[47:32] i'd just like to make a comment my understanding

[47:36] that this these letters will go before a committee um in springfield

[47:43] that will vote to either allow the statue to go

[47:48] to an area which the other most likely place would be starved rock

[47:54] where pierre bernard his son had a home and that's another

[47:59] area that's trying to to get the statue

[48:03] but the committee will make a choice whether they allow

[48:07] the statute to go out or to put the statute in storage

[48:11] and not allow it to go out to any of the areas that are replacing it

[48:15] so that's just the process that we're working within right now

[48:23] thank you very much so do we have a motion to adopt said letter

[48:26] we'll move a second we have a motion a second adopt said letter

[48:30] any further discussion

[48:33] harry none call for the vote all in favor any opposed

[48:37] the letter is hereby adopted thank you very much

[48:45] last item on the agenda the iea pccr rule resolution

[48:53] this is a resolution requested party i don't i didn't oh

[49:05] i have a copy here it's fairly sharp it's a resolution requested

[49:10] uh by baldwin uh by the power plant it has to do with the closure requirements

[49:16] for ash fills and storage versus either closure in place and i'll hand to press

[49:22] the factory on it just a little bit closure in place versus transporting the

[49:27] materials offsite somewhere else so i put it before the

[49:31] board for adoption and since i haven't read

[49:35] anything this morning i guess i can do once for you

[49:40] the resolution by the randolph county board in support of environmentally safe

[49:44] and balanced requirements for the closure of coal

[49:48] combustion residual surface impoundment okay

[49:52] whereas randolph county illinois here in the

[49:55] county buying through the elected county board

[49:58] has determined that it is in the county and its constituents best interest that

[50:02] the county take an express position in support of the coal-fired electric

[50:06] generating industry here in the industry in randolph county

[50:10] illinois whereas the industry provides revenue to

[50:14] the county through sales and real estate taxes employment of many of its citizens

[50:18] and patronage of businesses and whereas the industry has provided the county

[50:23] with an affordable and reliable power for

[50:25] decades and whereas the illinois environmental protection

[50:29] agency ilepa and the environmental protection and the

[50:34] illinois pollution control board dock at r 2020

[50:41] has proposed a rule making setting requirement

[50:45] for the management and closure of coal combustion residual

[50:48] surface impoundment that are broadly applicable

[50:51] in illinois and environmentally sound and whereas the illinois epa

[50:56] should be afforded adequate discretion to approve closure applications taking

[51:02] into account site-specific conditions science facts and

[51:06] state-specific analysis should drive regulatory decisions and the rules

[51:11] should not create a preference for one closure method over another

[51:15] and whereas the county supports balanced rules providing options for the closure

[51:21] of ccr surface empowerment that are

[51:24] environmentally protected economically reasonable and sensitive to

[51:28] local needs and concerns and whereas a mandate for closure of all

[51:33] ccr surface impoundment by removal removal could be detrimental because it

[51:40] could result in increased truck traffic and safety and risk for years to come

[51:44] higher carbon emissions unavoidable fugitive dust and wear and tear on roads

[51:51] in the county and its commitments now therefore for the

[51:55] consideration and foregoing recitals the county hereby resolves that it supports

[52:00] the final real setting requirement for safe

[52:02] economically reasonable environmental protective closure of ccr service

[52:07] empowerments in randolph county past this day of september 2020

[52:13] okay fact sheet on the material general generally you're familiar with this yes

[52:18] i thought you were this is the fly ash fly ash

[52:23] yeah that is what's left over after they burn the coal

[52:27] um it's currently being stored basically in the ground

[52:31] at the ballwin energy complex and they're just basically asking to

[52:38] cap it and leave it in the ground instead of getting it out

[52:42] creating a lot of dust and a lot of commotion

[52:46] and i'm having a truck out of randolph county

[52:52] so jeremy do you have any i've got no knowledge about it okay very

[52:58] rarely my speech was

[53:02] i would only add that this rule making on behalf of the environmental

[53:06] protection association basically only gives this two options

[53:12] we either find a landfill somewhere else that will accept the fly hatch dig it up

[53:19] truck it's there and as a as we speak there is no landfill

[53:24] around that is designed to handle that amount of fly act

[53:29] now if we think about it the power plant started around 1970-ish

[53:34] okay so we're here on 50 years worth of fly ash

[53:38] that's been put in the ground out there safely stored

[53:43] that type of thing so our option is to send it somewhere else the county will

[53:49] have to bear the burden of all the truck traffic and the citizens will have to

[53:53] deal with all the fly ash residuals all that comes along with it or safely

[54:00] put a tap on what we have out there that's designed to hold it and protect

[54:07] it and keep it where it's at now the other thing i would add and it

[54:11] makes sense to me that we would simply cap it

[54:16] we have been given proposals in recent years stating that our flash is

[54:23] actually worth something whether it be for building materials or

[54:27] whatever there was a proposal not long ago for us

[54:31] to allow a company to use that material to

[54:34] build blocks road materials that type of thing

[54:38] that still exists and could be even more important as the future brings whatever

[54:44] it brings so i think it makes sense for us to have

[54:48] them tap it not put those trucks on the road

[54:51] and keep it as a resource for possible use in the future one last

[54:56] point i'll mention that you didn't they were estimating it would take 20 years

[55:01] to truck it off site

[55:09] and think about the cost of that and the raising of our utility rate

[55:14] because of it so i i don't know anybody especially with the complaints i've been

[55:20] seeing lately uh about utility rates in my hometown

[55:26] i don't think anybody wants to to deal with higher utility rates or something

[55:30] that doesn't have to be done mr chairman i

[55:34] would believe that we approved the proclamation

[55:38] that would help keep the flash in place and to donate resolution and record

[55:45] and support i would say that we have a motion a second to adopt the

[55:51] resolution and support uh as presented and read into the record

[55:55] any further discussion harry none called for the vote all in

[56:00] favor aye any opposed resolution is hereby adopted we have no

[56:05] need for executive session so the next item on the agenda is reset

[56:10] until the next meeting on september 18th two

[56:13] weeks from today 9am here in the courtroom i'll make that

[56:18] motion i'll second it have a motion a second to reset any

[56:21] further discussion uh before we share an issue yeah we want

[56:26] to no we'll do that in our next week yeah

[56:38] we stand in recess until september 18th 9am

[56:42] right here in the fourth room thank you very much thank you

[56:48] does anybody on the phone have anything else to say before we

[56:52] close the meeting on the phone wonderful

[57:00] day

Randolph County Board Meeting September 4, 2020

Transcript